{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,16]],"date-time":"2026-09-16T18:02:45Z","timestamp":1789581765113,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":64,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"9","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,16]],"date-time":"2026-09-16T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1789516800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosone.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS One"],"abstract":"<jats:sec id=\"sec001\">\n                    <jats:title>Objective<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Adolescence is a developmental stage in which identity formation, bodily self-awareness, and social evaluation intensify, increasingly within digital and consumer environments. In recent years, growing attention has been directed toward the so-called \u201cSephora Kids\u201d phenomenon, referring to children and early adolescents who engage in advanced skincare routines, use premium cosmetic products, and emulate adult beauty influencers through social media platforms. Despite its visibility in media discourse, empirical research on this phenomenon remains limited. This study explores how adolescents themselves understand skincare practices, beauty consumption, and age-related boundaries associated with the \u201cSephora Kids\u201d phenomenon.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec id=\"sec002\">\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>The analysis is based on 30 in-depth interviews conducted with adolescents aged 13\u201316 in Poland. A qualitative research design and reflexive thematic analysis were employed to capture participants\u2019 everyday routines, sources of beauty knowledge, peer and parental influences, and perceptions of health risks and age appropriateness.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec id=\"sec003\">\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>The findings show that beauty practices are highly normalized in adolescents\u2019 daily lives and are often organized as structured routines resembling adult cosmetic regimens. Social media platforms, particularly TikTok and Instagram, function as environments of informal learning, where algorithmically curated content and influencer practices shape both knowledge and expectations. Participants demonstrate considerable consumer literacy, including brand awareness and price sensitivity, while simultaneously expressing ambivalent attitudes toward younger children\u2019s use of advanced skincare products. Parental mediation emerges as a significant factor, ranging from shared beauty practices to restrictive gatekeeping. Adolescents also articulate reflexive awareness of age-inappropriateness and potential health risks, often drawing on quasi-expert discourses circulating in digital and peer environments.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec id=\"sec004\">\n                    <jats:title>Significance<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>By foregrounding young people\u2019s perspectives, this study contributes to sociological debates on digital consumer culture, algorithmic socialisation, and the embodiment of aesthetic practices. The findings suggest that engagement in beauty routines can be understood as an early stage in the incorporation of body-related resources, interpreted here as emerging forms of body capital. In dialogue with existing research on aesthetic and cultural capital, the study demonstrates that such processes are not only socially distributed but also developmentally internalised through routine practices shaped by platform environments.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0356694","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,16]],"date-time":"2026-09-16T17:21:29Z","timestamp":1789579289000},"page":"e0356694","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Early incorporation of body capital in adolescent beauty culture: A qualitative study of the \u2018Sephora Kids\u2019 phenomenon"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"21","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1219-3546","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Monika","family":"Dobrogowska","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"340","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,16]]},"reference":[{"issue":"3","key":"pone.0356694.ref001","article-title":"The Crisis and reconstruction of youth identity in the social media era","volume":"2","author":"A Mai","year":"2025","journal-title":"Crit humanist soc theory"},{"issue":"2","key":"pone.0356694.ref002","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.36948\/ijfmr.2025.v07i02.40369","article-title":"Impact of social media on youth identity and socialization","volume":"7","author":"N Pegu","year":"2025","journal-title":"IJFMR"},{"issue":"58","key":"pone.0356694.ref003","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"401","DOI":"10.35631\/IJEPC.1058028","article-title":"Exploring identity development through social media: The impact on self-perception, body image and social comparison in Generation Z","volume":"10","author":"NN Babu","year":"2025","journal-title":"International Journal of Education, Psychology and Counseling"},{"issue":"3","key":"pone.0356694.ref004","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"183","DOI":"10.1086\/209559","article-title":"Consumer socialization of children: a retrospective look at twenty\u2010five years of research","volume":"26","author":"DR John","year":"1999","journal-title":"J CONSUM RES"},{"key":"pone.0356694.ref005","author":"A Chang","year":"2024"},{"key":"pone.0356694.ref006","volume-title":"Understanding Generation Alpha","author":"M McCrindle","year":"2020"},{"key":"pone.0356694.ref007","author":"C Criddle","year":"2024"},{"key":"pone.0356694.ref008","author":"C Boser","year":"2024"},{"issue":"9","key":"pone.0356694.ref009","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"949","DOI":"10.36849\/JDD.8800","article-title":"Dermatological Safety of Cosmetic Products Marketed to Children: Insights on the Sephora Kids Phenomenon","volume":"24","author":"R Bolen","year":"2025","journal-title":"J Drugs Dermatol"},{"key":"pone.0356694.ref010","year":"2024"},{"key":"pone.0356694.ref011","author":"D Herich","year":"2024"},{"key":"pone.0356694.ref012","author":"H Getahun","year":"2024"},{"key":"pone.0356694.ref013","article-title":"The \u201cSephora kids\u201d aren\u2019t going anywhere: Beauty consumers are getting younger, thanks to easily accessible content and brand buy-in","author":"S Radin","year":"2025","journal-title":"Vogue"},{"issue":"3","key":"pone.0356694.ref014","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.31743\/znkul.18895","article-title":"Postawy m\u0142odzie\u017cy wobec zjawiska Sephora kids i praktyk kosmetycznych. 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